Liverpool's top five performers so far this season

Liverpool head into the second international break of the season in a strong position.

The Reds sit in fourth place on 17 points, just three points from the top, after eight games.

But who have been the stand-out players from this campaign so far?

Barring some incredibly woeful officiating and two PMGOL apologies, the Reds have had a stellar start to the 2023/24 season.

Not only did Jurgen Klopp's side avoid defeat away from home against Brighton, Newcastle and Chelsea, Liverpool have already beaten the likes of West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa this season.

Overall, Liverpool have come out swinging in the league this season, and the same can be said for the cup competitions and it's clear they feel they have to right the wrongs of last season's disappointment.

So with that said, who have been Liverpool's stand-out performers as we head into the October break?

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5) LUIS DIAZ

When Diaz first joined the club, fans instantly embraced his dazzling play style, and his long-term injury, which saw the winger miss 31 games, was certainly a big factor as to why the Reds underperformed across all competitions last season.

However, this season, the Colombian has been fully fit, rejuvenated and ready to cause problems.

He may have only registered three goals and one assist for Liverpool thus far, but due to the club's plethora of attacking options, rotation is always a factor.

The 26-year-old has only played 683 minutes (around 7.5 full games) which means he is currently averaging a goal contribution every other game.

Plus, his goal against Bournemouth was a superb acrobatic finish in traditional Diaz style, so that counts twice right?

Not only that, but the stats don't show how influential Diaz has been to Liverpool's attack without being directly involved in scoring – he's made an abundance of fantastic attacking runs, he's been direct and silky on the ball and his wrongly disallowed goal against Tottenham was a thing of absolute beauty.

A full season of the Colombian running at opposition's defences is certainly a scary thought.

4) DARWIN NUÑEZ

There have undoubtably been reservations amongst the fanbase about Liverpool's number nine, and his ability to miss absolute sitters from time to time hasn't helped the matter.

However, the underlying numbers Nuñez gets each game are frightening, especially for a player so heavily rotated in Liverpool's forward line.

READ MORE: Elite chance-getter Darwin Nuñez is in line for big second season at Liverpool

The striker has scored four goals and registered three assists in all conceptions this season, despite only barely playing five full games (471 minutes to be exact). That is no small feat.

If there was one team that other than the Reds that would testify to the Uruguayan's impact, case in point Newcastle United.

After being subbed on with just ten minutes to go into a Liverpool side that was a goal and a man down, the weight on his shoulders to deliver was exceptionally high.

But deliver he did. He didn't just salvage the club a point, but all three with two incredible finishes into the bottom left corner to the roar of the Liverpool away support. Newcastle were stunned.

Simply put, when Nuñez plays he creates an ungodly amount of chances, and while he needs to be much better at finishing the easy ones, the talent is there and his overall play for Liverpool this year has been a level up to say the least.

No wonder he's such a fan favourite.

3) ALISSON BECKER

You could argue that Alisson has no right being placed in any position other than first, he's that good, but with Liverpool performing so well over the past eight games, a tough decision had to be made.

Most sane football fans would agree that the Brazilian shot stopper is the best goalkeeper in the world, and has been for a good few years now. It feels like he saves Liverpool 20 points a season at times.

READ MORE: Alisson is the key to Liverpool's strong start in 2023/24 

Not only did he set a personal best for most saves in a Premier League game this season against Newcastle (7), but he had the audacity to go one step further and break it again against Tottenham (8).

The fact that both of those games saw Liverpool playing with 10 (or for 25 minutes in the Tottenham game, nine men) shows just how big of a job Alisson had in-between the sticks – and this represents only half of the games this season that the Reds have had a sending off...

Having the 31-year-old in net at times actually seems like a cheat code, especially when a large portion of his saves are absolute worldies – the wonder save to deny Miguel Almiron's well-struck volley which won August's Premier League Save of the Month springs to mind, but there are so many more.

The Reds have had a strong start to the season, but you'd wonder how many points worse off they would be if they didn't have the best keeper on the planet on their side.

2) MOHAMED SALAH

We say the same thing about Salah every single season, and quite frankly, we're running out of superlatives. The man's a joke.

After just eight games in the Premier League so far, the Egyptian King has scored five times and assisted four. He already has more goal contributions than games played and more than any other player in the league so far. He is the bar.

That's not even including his Europa League goal against LASK, which he scored despite only being on the pitch for 16 minutes.

Now that Liverpool's attack is plentiful, rotation is a key factor and most of Liverpool's attackers have seen their minutes slashed and in turn their opportunities for goal contributions reduced.

Not Salah. If he's played closest to goal, he scores and if he's played wider to accommodate the likes of Nuñez, he assists. The winger will go down in history as one of football's most prolific, creative and outright inevitable players to ever grace the game.

With Liverpool's talisman at the top of his game, and the rest of the squad firing on all cylinders, the sky is the limit in terms of what Klopp's side can achieve this season.

1) DOMINIK SZOBOSZLAI

Ranking the top performer at Liverpool so far this season was no easy task, but any player that can stand-out amongst the attacking excellence of Salah and goalkeeping brilliance of Alisson must be doing something right.

For years now, Reds fans have been crying out for attacking threat in the midfield and these cries reached breaking point last season when it became glaringly obvious Liverpool desperately needed its promised midfield rebuild -  and that was before the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho departed.

READ MORE: Dominik Szoboszlai tops Premier League running charts with incredible stat

Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo have all been impressive in their own right since joining the club as part of 'Liverpool Reloaded', but the stand-out by a country mile is Dominik Szoboszlai.

Everything from pace and energy to killer passes and deadball brilliance, the Hungarian captain simply has the lot.

Not to mention the fact that he has scored two goals for Liverpool so far, and both have been absolute bangers.

He may not have as many goals as Salah, or as many points saved as Alisson, but the impact Szoboszlai has had on the team in such a short space is invaluable and he has fit in seemingly with his teammates like he's been playing in a Reds shirt his entire life.